6to6Mappr: An educational tool for fast and easy mapping of input devices to musical parameters

This paper presents a tool for mapping several commonly available novel controllers to various musical parameters in order to provide technological novices with a way to exploit new forms of musical interaction provided by technology. The tool automatically connects to a control interface specified by the user and maps input parameters of that interface to musical output. Besides being able to select a specific input device, the user can choose between the input parameters, the output device (for instance a physical modeling synthesizer), parameters of that output device and the mapping between the two. The paper presents the motivation, design and implementation of the tool and presents initial experience with using the tool in an educational setting where non-technical conservatory students were introduced to music technology using the tool.